You want to know about Dana Hunter, then, do you? I'm a science blogger, SF writer, compleat geology addict, Gnu Atheist, and owner of a - excuse me, owned by a homicidal felid. I loves me some Doctor Who and Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Sums me up. I'm a Midwest-born Southwesterner transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, which should explain some personality quirks, the tendency to sprinkle Spanish around, and why I'll subject you to some real jawbreakers in the place names department. My cobloggers, Karen Locke, Jacob and Steamforged, and I are delighted to be your cantineras y cantinero. Join us for una tequila. And feel free to follow @dhunterauthor on Twitter. Salud!

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EVENTS

On Fire

I’m writing this brief missive on my Kindle Fire. I’m desperately in love. Granted, this isn’t the easiest way to blog, but it works and that’s all that matters.

I’ve just downloaded a number of fiction and science tomes. I may not surface for a few days, but there will be a full report when I’m done.

The Kindle has once again proved I am a geek, or possibly a nerd. I screamed for joy when I saw that footnotes and page numbers in the index are hyperlinked. By the end of this week I’ll be so spoiled I’ll whine when forced to read footnoted, indexed tomes in physical book form.

As for those of you who were magnificently kind enough to send me science papers, I’ll be reading those soon, now that I can comfortably take them to bed, work and everywhere. Granted, one can print pdfs, but not when one’s printer is nonfunctional. And on a Kindle, unknown words and phrases are no obstacle. It has a web browser.

The awesome is incalculable.

I’m off to read on my favorite electronics purchase since the laptop. Eventually, I’ll get round to doing a proper blog post. I just downloaded some of Charles Darwin’s geology writings. That should spark something, eh?

I assume you are reading the Voyage of the Beagle in particular. While not done in schools reading the various authors over time and seeing how their opinions changed is a good way to learn how geologists think. Have you read the Map that Changed the world on Strata(William) Smith? That explains how the idea of superposition came about

I have a first generation Nook, which I love very much. I haven’t played with a Kindle Fire, but one reason I prefer reading on my Nook as opposed to, say, an iPad is that the e-ink is easier on my eyes, particularly after writing all day on the computer. There’s no glare, either.

I’ll be looking forward to hearing what else you have to say about your Fire as you get more used to it.

Thanks for your enthusiastic endorsement of the Fire. I’ve been debating getting either the Fire or one of the tablets or pads, but you may have ended my decision. I’m just not keen on carrying my 17″ laptop around with me most of the time, though it is wonderful for watching movies on at home.

Batteries – yes, there is that. I’m recharging the Fire almost once a day.

I’ve never liked the idea of an e-book, had never even tried one, and decided to buy the Fire for other reasons. But once I got it, found I could borrow e-books from the library, download sample chapters and the public domain books, I decided to give them a try.

I hate not having page numbers, not being able to flip through a 3-dimensional object. OTOH, every bookcase we have is full to overflowing; books all over the floor, too. In short, it’s either get rid of one book for every book we want to buy or try something new.

I find myself evaluating books differently now. Is this one worth buying as an e-book or just borrowing from the library or Amazon (if available)? Is it something, for one reason or another (like size) where the Fire’s limitations don’t matter so much? Or is it a book I want to hold in my hands?

I have decided not to buy any free classics anymore, and to rely on sites like Project Gutenberg for them. We’re not yet about to throw out the classics we do own, but we’ve begun to eye a few of them (the old paperback ones with torn and fading pages) suspiciously: is the memory of when and where we bought them, the notes we made in them, etc. worth the space they are taking up?

Times and circumstances change. I guess it is time for me to bend a little when it comes to e-books.

I know all about the overflowing bookcases. I read, daughter #1 (history major) reads, my wife is an English lit teacher. E-books definitely have storage advantages.

Every once in a while we have to cull our shelves. It hurts to part with some old paperback I haven’t read in years. I have not seen AC Clarke’s Nine Billion Names of God collection of short stories in a bookstore for years.

I was given a kindle as a gift and have loved it. But ever since the Fire has come out I’ve been wondering if I should upgrade to a Fire. I haven’t gotten one because I’ve been debating about whether I should go with an Ipad instead. After reading this I’m seriously thinking about the Fires again. Thanks for giving your views about it.